Archive for July, 2008

Honey taster is the person who has sought out the truely great seldom found honeys that can not be found in the supermart chain. There are a number of varieties of honey that are known as great gourmet honey from monofloral sources, here is a partial North American list of honeys to try:

Honey tasters are in every nectar producing area of the world. The best example of honey tasting is standing in the apiary (beeyard) eating comb honey right out of the hive! Most of us will not have that opportunity but we can enjoy the many different honeys that are available. There is more labor needed to keep the different kinds of honey separate, so expect the gourmet honey treat to be a little more expensive. There are many more varieties of honey that are wonderful and qualify as a gourmet honey. However there just is not enough production of the special nectar to export any of the delight past the community it was produced in. That does not mean that a honey taster can’t ferret out these elusive finds! Good hunting!

Swarms of Cape bees dieCapeTown ETCAlthough Cape honeybees are not officially under threat, they are a crucial part of the ecosystem and important pollinators of flowering plants, including many Fynbos species. Honeybees are used to pollinate about 50 crops across South Africa ...

Bee grateful this Thanksgiving for native pollinatorsThe Chesapeake Bay JournalMany people do not realize that native bees have been pollinating the continent's flowering plants long before honey bees were brought from Europe. As bees move from flower to flower collecting nectar, they also move pollen from flower to flower ...

Scientists Say: NectarScience News for Students (blog)This is a sugary liquid that plants secrete from structures called nectaries. Usually, these nectaries are found inside flowers. The nectar attracts pollinators such as beetles, bees, birds and bats. The animals get a sweet drink, and the plant gets ...

The County Ag Report: Bee Pollination - WAGM

The County Ag Report: Bee PollinationWAGMHoney is stored in honeycombs, and aside from being consumed by humans, it is also food for the bees, which can number up to 350,000. While worker bees live six weeks in the summer time before succumbing to exhaustion, each hive has a queen, which ...

As we breed crops to grow bigger and faster, they're less delicious to the bees they depend on - The New Food Economy

Spring Bees: Who Are They and Where Do They Live?bctv.orgBut who are these bees? Of the at least 438 species of bee species in Pennsylvania, about 33% emerge between March and April and are critical for pollination of a number of native plants and tree fruit crops. Crops that benefit from the pollination...

Can listening to bees help save them - and us?BBC NewsBees are crucial for agriculture: 1.4 billion farming jobs and three-quarters of the world's food supply - worth about $577bn (£447bn) a year - depend on the pollination of crops. And of the 100 crop species that feed 90% of the world's population, 70 ...